Wei (state)

This article is about the state of Wei during the Warring States period. For the earlier, smaller state, see Wey (state).
For the later state during the Three Kingdoms, see Cao Wei. For the later state during the Sixteen Kingdoms, see Ran Wei.

Surviving sources trace the ruling house of Wei to the Zhou royalty: Gao, duke of Bi (畢公高), was a son of King Wen of Zhou. His descendents took their surname from his fief. After the destruction of Bi by the Xi Rong, Bi Wan (畢萬) escaped to Jin, where he became a courtier of Duke Xian's, accompanying his personal carriage. After a successful military expedition, Bi Wan was granted Wei, from which his own descendants then founded the house of Wei.

Jin's political structure was drastically changed after the slaughter of its ruling dynasty during and after the Li Ji Rebellion. Afterwards, "Jin ha[d] no princely house" (晉無公卿) and political power diffused through its extended relations including Wei. In the last years of the Spring and Autumn Period, the founders of Wei, Zhao, and Han joined to attack and kill the dominant house of Zhi (知) in 453 BC. They then partitioned Jin among themselves. King Weilie of Zhou finally legitimized the situation in 403 BC, when he elevated the three houses' heads to the rank of Marcher lords.

The state reached its apogee during the reigns of its first two rulers, MarquessesWen and Wu. The third ruler, Hui, declared himself an independent king and concentrated on economic developments including irrigation projects at the Yellow River. Hui felt that Qin in the west was weak and their land a barren waste. He focused on conquering the well-settled eastern lands which were richer in known resources. However, a series of battles including the Maling in 341 BC checked Wei's ambitions while Qin's expansion went largely unimpeded, boosting its economy and military strength.

Early strengthening of the state of Wei resulted from adoption of legalist reforms proposed by Li Kui 李悝 (ca. 459 - ca. 395 BCE).

Wei eventually lost the western Hexi region, a strategic area of pastoral land on the west bank of the Yellow River between the border of modern-day Shanxi and Shaanxi, to Qin. Thereafter, it remained continuously at war with Qin, requiring the capital to be moved from Anyi to Daliang. Wei surrendered to Qin in 225 BC, after the Qin general Wang Ben diverted the Yellow River into Daliang, destroying the capital in a flood.

King Jia, (魏王假), personal name Jia (假), son of King Jingmin, (228–225 BC)

According to Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian written in the 1st century BC, the list of rulers is slightly different: King Hui died in 335 BC and was succeeded by his son King Xiang in 334 BC. King Xiang died in 319 BC and was succeeded by his son King Ai (哀王), who died in 296 BC and was succeeded by his son King Zhao. However, the majority of scholars and commentators believe that King Ai, whose personal name is not recorded, never existed. It seems that Sima Qian assigned the second part of the reign of King Hui (starting in 334 BC, on which date Marquess Hui probably proclaimed himself King) to his son King Xiang and added King Ai to fill in the gap between 319 and 296 BC. On the other hand, a minority of scholars believe King Ai did indeed exist.[citation needed]

An unnamed "King of Wei" is featured in one of the canonical[clarification needed] tales of homosexual love in China. The king had a favorite named Lord Long Yang, with whom he enjoyed fishing. One day, Long began to weep. When questioned, Long said he saw his own future in how he had treated a fish. Happy to have the catch at first, Long Yang had wanted to throw it back when he caught a better fish. He wept, "I am also a previously-caught fish! I will also be thrown back!" To show his fidelity to Long Yang, the king declared that, "Anyone who dares to speak of other beauties will be executed along with his entire family".[2]